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Adrian Alston

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Adrian Alston
Personal information
Full name Adrian Alston
Date of birth (1949-02-06) 6 February 1949 (age 75)
Place of birth Preston, England
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1968–1969 South Coast United
1970–1972 St George
1974 Safeway United 13 (4)
1974–1975 Luton Town 29 (8)
1975–1976 Cardiff City 48 (16)
1977–1978 Tampa Bay Rowdies 19 (8)
1977 Canberra City 10 (3)
1984 Wollongong City 1 (0)
International career‡
1969–1977 Australia 43 (7)
Managerial career
1979 St. Petersburg Thunder Bolts
1997–2004 Port Kembla
2004 ACT Rockets
2004–2005 Wollongong City
2006–2007 Bulli
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 May 2007
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 May 2007

Adrian Alston (born 6 February 1949 in Preston) is an English-born Australian former professional football (soccer) player. His brother Alex was also a professional footballer.

Career

While playing as an apprentice at his hometown club Preston North End, Alston was offered a chance by South Coast United in Australia and quickly settled in the country. His performances in the 1974 World Cup saw Alston receive offers from a number of clubs in Germany, including Hertha Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt, but instead decided to join Luton Town in The Football League. However Alston spent just one season at Kenilworth Road before Cardiff City manager Jimmy Andrews paid £20,000 to take him to Ninian Park.

He scored twice on his debut in a 4–3 win over Chesterfield and later went on to become the first post-war Cardiff player to score a hat-trick in the FA Cup in a 6–2 win over Exeter City. After helping the club win promotion to Division Two, he struggled to reproduce his form the following year and left Cardiff to play in the NASL for Tampa Bay Rowdies.[1]

International career

He was a member of the Australian 1974 World Cup squad in West Germany. Prior to the Australia side meeting West Germany in the group stage, German manager Helmut Schoen stated[2]

"We have nothing to fear from Australia....apart from Adrian Alston"

In total he represented Australia between 1969 and 1977 in 43 official matches, scoring 7 goals.[3] Alston represented New South Wales in 1974 as a player and led the selection of the Illawarra region as coach in 2004.

Honours

Cardiff City
1976

See also

Foreign-born footballers who played for Australia

References

  1. ^ Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
  2. ^ "Alston:The man Schoen feared". FIFA.com. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  3. ^ Adrian Alston, 11v11.com – Official Website of the Association of Football Statisticians (includes also a match against a selection of the Irish league).
    Roberto Mamrud: Australia – Record International Players, Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, 10 June 2011.
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